Does the Northeast need or want an integrated Permaculture database?Option 1. Take this 5-minute Survey to tell us what you think (by Nov 17)Option 2. Dig in to the proposed details on this Wiki page below.
Over the years and at gatherings small and large, permaculture-inspired folks in the Northeast have often expressed a desire to be able to more easily access, search, and share information about Permaculture-related opportunities and activities in our region. In response, PINE, the Permaculture Institute of the Northeast, has...(1) created a survey to gather feedback about what kind of community resource would be useful(2) started thinking in more detail about a possible solution -- an integrated permaculture database and how the community might develop it collaboratively.
One Possible Solution: anIntegrated Permaculture Database for Northeastern US and Eastern Provinces, Canada
What follows below is some of PINE's thinking about a database and how we can develop it. You're invitedto make edits and give feedback on the nitty-gritty details or to take the survey.
Working on this Wiki page
For people who want to work directly with the content via this wiki-page, review the proposed questions/info fields under Content Development below.
If you want to ADD content only, use the "Edit Page" tab at the top of the page, and then add rows and text in the appropriate section.
If you want to CLARIFY, REMOVE, or CHANGE content, go to the "Discussion" tab at the top of the page, start a thread with the specific item you want to change in the Subject line, describe what you'd like to clarify, or state why you want to remove or change an item.
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
There are 3 variables re: content.
(1) Content: What information will the database provide
(2) Function: Searchable / Not Searchable?
(3) Format: How is this information presented/collected
Category
Content
Function (Searchable?)
Format for searchability and data capture
GENERAL
(Basic Info for identifying and contacting a site or project.)
Sponsoring Organization
YES
Fill-in field
Contact Information
NO
Fill in specific fields: including name, phone, email
Website
NO
Fill-in field
Location
YES
Fill in: town, state, (and/or zipcode?)
[add more rows below if necessary]
PROJECT DETAILS
(Additional specific factoids about the site or project)
Date / Year Established
YES
Fill-in field (MM/YY)
About the site (any special notes about your site? e.g. unique geographical, geological, ecological features, historical or cultural significance, etc.)
YES
Fill-in paragraph text with option indicate tags/keywords
What specific permacultural applications, techniques, or technologies do you have at your site?
YES
Fill-in with option to indicate tags/keywords.
OR select multiple choice check boxes:
coppice, forest garden, annual garden, medicinal, food processing, CSA.
Scale of Production
YES
Multiple Choice check boxes: self, family, community, CSA, for market, for contracted buyers
Spiritual / Religious / Philosophical affiliations, if any.
YES
Fill-in as tags or keywords
[add more rows below if necessary]
MATERIAL RESOURCES
(What material/physical resources are offered at/by this site or project)
Do you have plants or seeds for sale/barter?
YES
Y/N checkbox
Do you have tools, equipment or other infrastructure for sale/barter or share?
YES
Y/N check box
option to add keywords, also searchable.
[add more rows below if necessary]
EDUCATION RESOURCES
(What info/educational resources are offered at/by this site or project)
Do you conduct plant or polyculture research, tests, trials at your site?
YES
Y/N checkbox
Do you offer workshops, presentations and courses AT your site?
YES
Y/N checkbox
Do you offer workshops, presentations and courses OFFyour site?
YES
Y/N checkbox
Do you take day visitors or have regular tours or visiting hours?
YES
Y/N checkbox
Do you accept visitors or tour groups by appointment?
YES
Y/N checkbox
Do you have your teaching curricula or syllabuses available for review or download?
YES
[add more rows below if necessary]
EMPLOYMENT, INTERNSHIPS, APPRENTICESHIPS
(What kind of experiences does this site/project offer?)
Do you offer internships, apprenticeships, or other work opportunities?
Fill in MMYY to MMYY
check "flexible"
check at least _ weeks
Start Date / End Date (How long do you want this posting active on the database)
NO
Fill in Start DDMMYY and End DDMMYY
Cost or Financial Exchange
(fees, stipend, or salary, etc.)
YES
Fill in or select multiple choice options that express $ RANGES of fees
How to Apply
(e.g. see website, written application; phone interview; trial work periods, etc.)
NO
Fill in
Requirements / Pre-Requisites
(none, PDC, required reading, x years or months of experience, etc.)
YES
Fill in offer multiple choice options
Living Situation / Room and Board (e.g. shared yurt, cabin/bunk, tent space provided, fend for yourself, 2 meals/day, etc.)
YES
Fill in
check box options:
Educational Approaches (individual study/research and application, access to workshops, supervised work)
NO?
Fill in with keywords, or offer multiple choice options
Training Opportunities (e.g. you get to direct experience re: work with kids, manage a CSA, learn marketing, web design, run and office, design workshops, etc.)
YES
Fill in with keywords, or
offer multiple choice options
Is a Permaculture Design Course Certificate offered as part of this experience?
Y/N checkbox
[add more rows below if necessary]
FEEDBACK FEATURES
(What kind of feedback features are available? What kind do we want to include? Some, all? Should it be optional - i.e. can a project site 'turn off or on' others ability to leave reviews and remarks? Should there be an ability to send the project/site a notification when a review or testimonial is made, etc.)
Fill-in text feedback
Fill in answer with keywords
Would you recommend this project/site/course to other visitors or students?
Y/N
check box or radio buttons
Instead of "Stars" give "Starts" (little sprout icons!) - rating system like Yelp
Potentially ask specific questions to solicit more specific feedback: About site
conditions, living conditions (if applicable), teaching/learning modalities, organizational culture, community, etc.
Think through aspects of the project as a whole: content, infrastructure, maintenance, etc.
PINE working group
Setup and maintain transparency for project by posting Project details on the wiki (i.e. THIS page)
Ongoing
PINE facilitators
II. CONTENT DEVELOPMENT (strategy: gather end-user feedback about desired experience and interface)
Develop clear way for community to participate in database design, via wiki
Announce Project to NE community to invite feedback (including feedback period: start and end date/time)
Nov 1
Feedback Period, for all interested parties to review, ask questions, voice concerns, suggestions, recommendations.
Nov 1 - Nov 17
Open to Community
Finalize Content Fields
III. TECH INFRASTRUCTURE (strategy: reverse-engineer tool according to content needs established)
Identify internet database infrastructure options (use existing online infrastructures or build our own?)
PINE facilitators
IV. PROJECT: DATABASE LAUNCH
Beta Testing
MMYY-MMYY
x number of volunteer testers
Develop strategies for enlisting volunteer help to do database outreach, maintenance, research, fundraising (?)
PINE facilitators
Project financial support needs (budget) for maintaining functionality at different levels or for various amounts of time
PINE facilitators
Seek postings from known project sites
- list known projects sites, get contact info, etc.
PINE facilitators or volunteers
Advertise widely to seek out self-posting project sites
- post widely multiple internet list serves, etc.
- consider ads in regional publications, if any
PINE facilitators or volunteers
VI. DATABASE MAINTENANCE
Determine Specific Maintenance Needs / Tasks...
(for example: a team of people willing to send/receive hardcopy data capture surveys to projects/sites that are off-line,
or to be on the phone with these off-line sites, and then to enter data onto the database.
(for example: people who on an annual or bi-annual basis contact the projects/sites, whether or not they have
internships, etc, to seek updates)
Outreach to community volunteers or specific groups (students, etc.) re: database maintenance.
PINE facilitators or volunteers
VII. DATABASE EVALUATION
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS and THOUGHTS
How does this database/registry fit into the context of emerging themes/needs to safeguard the integrity of permaculture...?
Is it peer-reviewed?
Other ratings and registry systems exist... can we learn from them, use them, etc.
Consider implementing the database in the Appropedia wiki (http://www.appropedia.org), which is being used for e.g. the development of the Transition Handbook. This would take care of web hosting costs and come with an existing user and reader base.
FIRST DRAFTS AT...
GOALS:
Increase awareness of active permaculture in the Northeast
Connect with as-of-yet unknown practitioners working in our region
Link PDC graduates with practical training opportunities
Build a more interconnected, mutually supportive community
DATABASE OBJECTIVES: We'd like the database to be...
Free and accessible via the internet
User- and community-generated, so that projects can post their own details.
Well-maintained and up-to-date, and high-traffice so that no one wastes time wading through old material
Searchable according a variety of criteria; and to
Include “feedback” features so users can rate their experiences at the sites listed
Does the Northeast need or want an integrated Permaculture database? Option 1. Take this 5-minute Survey to tell us what you think (by Nov 17)Option 2. Dig in to the proposed details on this Wiki page below.
Over the years and at gatherings small and large, permaculture-inspired folks in the Northeast have often expressed a desire to be able to more easily access, search, and share information about Permaculture-related opportunities and activities in our region.
In response, PINE, the Permaculture Institute of the Northeast, has...(1) created a survey to gather feedback about what kind of community resource would be useful(2) started thinking in more detail about a possible solution -- an integrated permaculture database and how the community might develop it collaboratively.
One Possible Solution: an Integrated Permaculture Database for Northeastern US and Eastern Provinces, Canada
What follows below is some of PINE's thinking about a database and how we can develop it. You're invited to make edits and give feedback on the nitty-gritty details or to take the survey.
Working on this Wiki page
For people who want to work directly with the content via this wiki-page, review the proposed questions/info fields under Content Development below.
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
There are 3 variables re: content.(1) Content: What information will the database provide
(2) Function: Searchable / Not Searchable?
(3) Format: How is this information presented/collected
Category
Content
Function (Searchable?)
Format for searchability and data capture
geological, ecological features, historical or cultural significance, etc.)
do you have at your site?
OR select multiple choice check boxes:
coppice, forest garden, annual garden, medicinal, food processing, CSA.
option to add keywords, also searchable.
(e.g. Intern, Apprentice, Farm Manager, etc...)
check "flexible"
check at least _ weeks
(fees, stipend, or salary, etc.)
(e.g. see website, written application; phone interview; trial work periods, etc.)
(none, PDC, required reading, x years or months of experience, etc.)
offer multiple choice options
(e.g. shared yurt, cabin/bunk, tent space provided, fend for yourself, 2 meals/day, etc.)
check box options:
(individual study/research and application, access to workshops, supervised work)
offer multiple choice options
(e.g. you get to direct experience re: work with kids, manage a CSA, learn marketing, web design, run and office, design workshops, etc.)
offer multiple choice options
Some, all? Should it be optional - i.e. can a project site 'turn off or on'
others ability to leave reviews and remarks? Should there be an ability to send the project/site a notification when a review or testimonial is made, etc.)
conditions, living conditions (if applicable), teaching/learning modalities, organizational culture, community, etc.
PROJECTED DATABASE DESIGN PHASES, WORKFLOWS, TIMELINES
- list known projects sites, get contact info, etc.
- post widely multiple internet list serves, etc.
- consider ads in regional publications, if any
(for example: a team of people willing to send/receive hardcopy data capture surveys to projects/sites that are off-line,
or to be on the phone with these off-line sites, and then to enter data onto the database.
(for example: people who on an annual or bi-annual basis contact the projects/sites, whether or not they have
internships, etc, to seek updates)
(students, etc.) re: database maintenance.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS and THOUGHTS
How does this database/registry fit into the context of emerging themes/needs to safeguard the integrity of permaculture...?
Is it peer-reviewed?
Other ratings and registry systems exist... can we learn from them, use them, etc.
Consider implementing the database in the Appropedia wiki (http://www.appropedia.org), which is being used for e.g. the development of the Transition Handbook. This would take care of web hosting costs and come with an existing user and reader base.
FIRST DRAFTS AT...
GOALS:
DATABASE OBJECTIVES: We'd like the database to be...